4 Weeks of rigourous activity and an extremely sensible eating plan, I seem to see the centremeters decrease from my hips, waist and stomach etc, but absolutely no change on the scales!!!! (I must be doing something right)Even tho I have no intentions of giving up, this means im still in the "obese" category with my BMI count and look like Ill stay there for a while yet. How cruel! Any advice???

I desperately needed to lose weight to over come a back problem, that was a direct result of my weight so I could go back to work. I started off walking very briskly for an hour a day first week, then the same plus continous movement during the day (housework etc) for the next couple.I started back at work this week. I clean (scrub) empty houses for a real estate agent.

I got a really bad house wednesday which had me litterally scrubbing for 8 hours straight, i couldnt move yesterday!!! It was like doing an aerobic workout for 8hrs.

I felt great though, lol but managed to gain 1cm around my arms, must be bulking up! Surprised

Do you think this type of work would be enough not to do extra exercise???

As for food, I have drastically decreased to approx 1000 cal per day, for the last 4 weeks with stacks of fruit and drinking about 2litres of water per day. Water is the only fluid i drink now except for my 2 morning coffees (low fat milk and 1/2 low GI sugar)

nope your exercise is just great - where you are going wrong is limiting your calories!!!!! Your body isnt keen on what you are doing and what it is doing is storing everything you are eating and holding onto it until you start to give it more.

I am 69kgs and I eat 1500 calories a day, do a lot of exercise and have averaged 900gms weight loss / week for the last ten weeks or so! "Stacks of fruit" isnt a great idea - whilst fruit is good for you and high in fibre you need protein and fruit is high in sugar. If you are interested there is a meal plan on one of my pages Sounds like you have ALLL the motivation now it is putting it to practice with a good food plan! Also, check out http://www.calorieking.com.au

Great Advice thankyou..... I was actually starting to think that same thing about my body hanging on!! and I was completely suprised about the fruit and sugar content, lol cant win can we. I will check out that page and I thankyou for taking the time to reply Ill let you know how I go

well it is natural sugar so best to go for an apple over a mars bar hehe but still veges are prob better! no worries my pleasure! I used to limit my calories to 800 some day and couldnt figure out why i was still not losing!

Hi Gordz...you are right in one way...read this article As I said I used to cut out all carbs and eat limited calories..yes i lost 17 whopping KG's but it ALL came back!

Calories and Your Health

The most effective way to lose weight is to consume fewer calories than you expend, creating a calorie deficit. But if your calorie intake dips too low, says Lummus, your body could go into starvation mode. "Your body will start to store fat because it thinks it is not going to get anything," says Lummus. "You will be at a point where your body is kind of at a standstill."

Lummus says that when your body goes into starvation mode, your metabolism slows to a crawl, burning calories as slowly as possible to conserve its energy stores. This is why people who cut their calories too much may reach a plateau and stop losing weight.

Eating too few calories can be the start of a vicious cycle that causes diet distress. When you cut your calories so low that your metabolism slows and you stop losing weight, you probably will become frustrated that your efforts are not paying off. This can lead you to overeat and ultimately gain weight.

"It is so hard to sustain cutting calories and eating too little. What typically happens is that the person will go in the opposite direction; they will just become too hungry and go into a binging mode," says Lummus. "Because you are getting frustrated by not seeing any weight loss, you just sort of throw in the towel."

In addition to sabotaging your weight-loss efforts, eating too few calories can also harm your health. When your body goes into starvation mode, you are at increased risk for the following:

Remember that calories are not your enemy. They are a vital part of a healthy and energetic life. "Your body needs a certain amount of calories just to sustain proper function," says Lummus. This is why fad diets that force you to cut out too many calories leave you feeling lethargic, shaky, and ready to give up.

Instead of opting for a fad diet, find a reasonable eating and exercise plan that allows you to lose one-half to two pounds per week. There is evidence that people who lose weight at this rate — by making better nutrition choices, eating smaller portion sizes, and exercising — also have the best chance of keeping it off. Make a plan to adopt new healthful habits that you will be able to stick to indefinitely, and always allow yourself a little wiggle room for special occasions.

thanks for that court, good read. I'm on a cycle though, mon - thurs around 3-400 calories, and go beserk on the weekend. I calorieking'd my planned diet for tonight (censored <<EDIT "po-ker" (why is it censored?!?!)night at my place woo) and tommorrow, red wine has 500 calories a bottle! lol, woo. BUT, better than the 1370 calories in a bottle of bourbon that i'd usually have instead (moved to wine cos it's so much cheaper!!!) so today i will be consuming around 1400 calories, and maybe 2000 saturday, then calming down sunday and back into the exercise, with my monday weekly weigh in.

This Lummus bloke (mmmmm hommus dip....), does he say anything about the period of time he thinks the body starts to reserve fat? I think cycling is a good idea myself, but I'm clearly coming from a pretty simple minded approach

2 bits of chicken = 440 calories (ish) although yesturday I had 600cals coz i couldn't resist about 10 pringles on the way home from the shops hehe yummm. I'm not hungry at all though, i'm getting my 8 hours sleep and seem to have boundless energy, so at the moment i'm not looking at changing my weekday thing, knowing that I give myself the weekend off is good enough for me

Gordz, as a male you should be eating up to 2000 calories per day, depending on your level of activity. I don't even know how you can stand eating only 400 calories per day!!

At the end of the day, we are all here doing our own thing, but i am only saying this because i'm concerned for your overall health, and i don't want you to develop an eating disorder. So please don't take offence, this is just advice, in my opinion, and you don't have to take it.

yes, court is right about eating more calories, however, those calories need to come from an appropriate source i'm sorry to say this, but it is about what you put in your body as much as how much you put in. You need a good mix of protein, complex carbs fruit and veg. For example, to maintain muscle mass you need to eat approximately 2grams per kilo of body weight. You should be eating LOTS of veggies (some people reccomend 5cups per day) you should be eating two serves of fruit, and low fat dairy for calcium and other added benefits. If you exercise, you should be eating a serve of carbs to fuel you through that work out, as well as after would with a good protein source (like a protein shake) to help carry the protein to your muscles. You need GOOD fats, like in nuts, avocados and uncooked olive oil. you need an extreme lack of trans fats (found in hydorgenised foods like margerine) you need to have amino acids and vitamins! saving your calories for alcohol is not a good idea. There is approximately 6 calories per gram of alcohol, which is only second to 8 calories per gram of fat alcohol will sabotage your weight loss, because your liver will spend all it's time trying to process the alcohol before even looking at whatever else you've put into your body you need to vary things to sustain weight loss both in your eating, and your exercise to shock your body out of plateaus - but this is wayyyy too detrimental to your overall health.

Ultimately it is your choice, i am just trying to help you make the right choice for your body's overall health. Your body is a machine AND your temple. It needs to be fuelled by the right things. You shouldn't starve yourself to loose weight, fad diets do not work and ultimately it is unsustainable and you will pile it all back on (and then some, did i mention fat cells have memory? That's why it's easier for us to put on weight after loosing it, and your body will CRAVE the fat like nothing on earth) and yes you might put on a little bit of weight increasing your calories, but once your body gets used to the changes, you will start to loose weight again, and sustain that weight loss. When i increased my calories from 1200 to 1400 i didn't even put on any weight, i just continued to loose weight.

Sorry if you feel this is a confrontational post. I really don't intend it to be that way. We are all here for advice and support good luck gordz i hope you make the right decision.

Goal: 65-67 kg <-------Ultimate Goal: For now? No weighing for a few weeks...